The first Quarter of 2009 has already been difficult, and things are set to get worse for everyone - including those involved in IT.

Experience tells us that budgets which have already been under close scrutiny will be slashed, I predict cuts of more than 10% on average.

But this does not mean that it is all bad news. Budget cuts can be managed through clever purchasing. Simple services e.g. internet and phone calls suffer like all commodities in a downturn. They are sold and bought on price.

Now is the perfect time to make serious savings in this area.

In times of economic downturn there are always pressures on headcount. IT will suffer along with most other departments but there are things that IT Managers can do to deliver services at a reduced cost.

This year I expect a dramatic increase in SaaS (Software as a Service) offerings; there has been dramatic investment by companies (such as Google) in this area and it is expected to continue. This will lead to increased corporate initiatives in SaaS and cloud computing.

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In 2009, new technologies such as Virtualisation will shine as they enable organisations to save costs (e.g. hardware, maintenance and support staff). Combining virtualisation with SaaS and cloud computing can deliver big company solutions to SMEs.

It will be difficult but IT will survive by thinking slightly differently.

Chris Evans, Managing Director